Rival Fans Become Good Neighbors in RV City

They range from the smallest single-unit campers priced at $20,000 to the most elegant, high-tech motorhomes that can approach seven figures.

As reported by the Florida Times-Union, recreation vehicles of all sizes, shapes and price ranges are back in Jacksonville this week. They’re all squeezed into RV City, where for five days and four nights, Florida and Georgia fans co-exist despite strong allegiances to their respective schools.

Naturally, that all changes today for a five-hour period when fans for both schools make their way to EverBank Field to watch the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs meet in a crucial SEC showdown.

“I only see some of these people once a year, but I consider them my friends, even if they are Bulldog fans,” said Donald Joiner, a project manager for a Jacksonville construction company and Gator fan who’s been taking a week’s vacation this time of year for the past 23 years.

“It’s a fun week of kidding each other, swapping stories and reliving past games, and stays here. It’s all fun for a week, but then it’s the Hatfields and McCoys come Saturday,” Joiner said.

Joiner and his wife, Charlotte, have been in the same location along “Alligator Alley” since 1989. He’s part of a group of 15 motorhome owners who take up residence in the same spot every year.

“We’re a close group,’’ Joiner said. “It’s the same people every year unless we happen to lose someone due to a death or moving away, in which case, there is always someone ready to take that spot.

“For four days, we bond, socialize and eat together every night,” he said. “We know exactly what the menu is for the week and we all bring side dishes that we share. One big happy Gator family here.”

Other than a love for football, the one common bond for the 150 “four-day-homes” for these fans that make up RV City is the vehicle they brought to the lot adjacent to EverBank Field.